22!

I remember counting down for my birthday months in advance when I was younger; this year it was more like "Oh, it's October 29th, happy birthday to moi!"

the nap cave

The day started off on the BEST note when Natalie beat her previous sleeping record by going all the way from 9:45 pm til, wait for it: 6:45 am!!! AHH! I woke up several times expecting to hear her hungry squealies from the room next door, but it was all quiet on the baby front. I didn't want to risk going in to check on her and accidentally wake her up, so I waited it out.

My body didn't know what to do with that much rest, so I fed the Sweet, had a delicious healthy breakfast, and headed off to work out. I kind of couldn't believe I was doing it on my birthday (it's a built-in excuse!) but I figured there's no time like the present to get into better shape.

blurry self-portrait

Side note: I had a little hiatus from ERASE, but I'm back on track and ready to get results. I need lots of encouragement and no temptations - it is torture to say no when someone offers me a treat. Ready....lose weight!

GO BIG RED!

After my workout I got ready and went to school with Austin and Natalie in tow so I could do my accompanying and they could hang out closeby. Natalie was very obliging and took lots of good naps so I got to read a lot for my birthday - sleep and read-time, man this girl knows how to sucker her mommy! After school we came home and relaxed before my parents brought us dinner and hung out.

peeking : )

Side note: My dad is FAMOUS for his *interesting* choice of presents. Some examples:
- golden paperweight in the shape of a frog with inlaid emeralds for my mom for their anniversary
- stuffed javelina from an Indian reservation for Christmas
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid for my 19th birthday
- a Neopet (remember those?) for my middle school graduation
- Husker-themed garden gnome for my birthday last year
- crutches for my 16th birthday

So guess what he got me this year? A sled called the SNOW BOOGIE! Hahaha it's the best. Wha dad do you know that buys his daughter a sled for her birthday? I can't wait for snow so we can try it out. (Anyone know a good hill in Lincoln?)

A visit from Aunt Annie!

They left and our friends Kat and Dan came for a late-night party! They brought cake and candles and laughs - we woke Natalie up a couple times...totally worth it. Kat: "How old are you? I couldn't remember if you were 21 or 22, so I got 24 candles." HA! They were in packs of 12, but it came out funny. Anyway, these guys are great, and it was a fun end to my birthday. (Pictures later...)

reading with Gpa Poulsen

Austin took me out to a delicious Indian restaurant to celebrate on Saturday, and we also went to Barnes and Noble and I got to choose out a book. Free dessert at Macaroni Grill capped off the night; you can't go wrong! We spent Sunday night with our family in Lincoln where we had jello cake decorated with the number 66 - ("if you multiply 22 by 3 that's what you get...close enough!") and I got some more books...yay!